


One by One (They All Fall Down)

by Anonymous



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Heavy Angst, Logan Needs A Hug, Panic Attacks, Patton Needs a Hug, Roman needs a hug, Virgil needs a hug, Whump, disturbing images
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-20 21:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21063602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Inspired by ‘Silence and Duality’ by xaandiirRoman’s, Logan’s, and Patton’s time within the prisons with Parker.Heavy Angst ahead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xaandiir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaandiir/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Silence and Duality](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11462142) by [xaandiir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaandiir/pseuds/xaandiir). 

_My shoes are wet._

That was the first thought that ran through Logan’s mind as he regained consciousness. At first he disregarded it as trivial, but as his senses regained strength he analyzed it again. _My shoes are wet, but the rest of my body is dry._

The memories of what happened earlier began to seep in and muddle his observations. _Virgil…_

No. He needed to focus.

He opened his eyes (it took him a moment to realize they were even closed) to be faced with endless darkness. It seemed to be infinite, to go on forever, but Logan didn’t worry, that wasn’t rational. So instead, he took time to analyze the situation. 

The last thing he remembered was falling unconscious under the water, but now he was completely dry save for his feet. He hadn’t been out long enough to have dried, he was thinking quite clearly (thank goodness). So, either his previous was an illusion, or he was currently within one now. Illusions with the purpose of inducing fear did seem to be Parker’s specialty after all.

Look around, Logan found the source of the soppiness of his shoes. In every direction, a sea of a couple inch deep water covered the ground. It seemed as though all of the water from the previous room had spread out across the large space, a constant reminder of what had happened. The liquid was also freezing cold, numbing his limbs and setting a feeling of uneasiness over him. _It makes sense. Warm water would be comfortable and appealing. Parker is trying to scare me. _

_I’d like to see him try._

Logan began to walk. His gait was slow and unsteady, for each quivering step was painful. He kept going though. It was the facts that kept him going. Parker had placed him in some kind of prison so he could carry out whatever plan he had. Every prison has its walls. And every wall could be taken down, somehow.

“Hello Logan.” A voice boomed overhead. So this was an illusion of Parker’s. Logan smiled, his deduction skills had yet to fail him.

“Parker,” the logical side addressed skywards, “Where is everyone else?”

A chuckle buzzed through the air like a fly around a body. The noise rolled through the air like a wave, like the breeze through the trees. It was deeply disturbing. “They’re dead.”

Logan huffed as he turned around and stared at another random point in the darkness. This was all rather annoying, with deception and lack of a physical embodiment of Parker. “No,” he countered knowingly, “that was all an illusion intended to weaken and scare us. It did not work on me, so I ask again, where are the others. And don’t try to ‘scare’ me this time. I am no idiot.” Logan fell silent as he awaited an answer. Parker could just give up the charade now, Logan would not fall for his tricks.

“Oh how wrong you are,” said the overhead voice very amusedly, “Virgil is gone, Roman is currently sitting in a pool of blood, and Patton took a rather _nasty_ fall.” The voice spoke as if it was some kind of play on words, some kind of inside joke Parker had with himself. Logan wondered how true the words were.

He opened his mouth to retaliate, but the Voice cut him off. “And are you sure you’re not an idiot?” 

Logan’s gaze hardened, “I am quite literally the embodiment of logic.”

“_Really?!_” The Voice sounded extremely shocked, “because with the display you put on earlier, I couldn’t have guessed. You couldn’t even save Virgil.”

“That _wasn’t_ my fault!” His voice had risen now and Logan menatlly cursed himself. He was letting Parker get a rise out of him.

“But it was. Third row, seventh button from the left.” 

“_What_?” What was Parker getting at. Nothing he was saying was making sense, and it infuriated Logan to no end. 

“The button you _didn’t_ push. The very button the would have stopped the walls and let dear old Virgil out. It would have saved his life.” 

_No_, “I swear I...I pushed them all.” 

“You pushed every single button except the one _clearly_ labeled ‘Release’”. The voice was accusatory, as if Logan was in the wrong and not Parker, who had put them all in this position.

“You’re _wrong_!” Logan spun around again to try and figure out where the danged voice was coming from, but he had turned around too fast and was not mindful of the water underfoot, and he slipped and crashed to the ground. Laughter echoed around him, it touched him, fingered through his hair, brushed against his cheek. It stung.

“I’m wrong?” asked the Voice incredulously, “You’re the one who blatantly ignored the obvious solution! You _wanted_ Virgil to die, didn’t you. You wanted to watch him be crushed to death by your doing.”

“_No!_” Logan choked out with a sob. _Stop crying, _a small voice in his head advised him,_ he wants you to be like this. Be stronger._

With tears running down his face, Logan forced himself to look up, to gaze into the face of the darkness, “No. I tried my hardest to let him out. It was your fault that I couldn’t help him. I would wish harm on _anyone_.” By the end, he was back on his feet, his gaze never straying downwards, he would not be degraded like this. 

“_But you would._” Logan jerked his head to the right. The Voice was closer now, only a few feet from where he stood.

“_They always prove you wrong._” He began to hyperventilate as he swung his head to the left, the Voice was over there now.

“_You just want to be right._” Logan yelped and leaped forward, away from the grabbing hands behind him, the voice that whispered vilely in his ear.

“_You would do anything…_” Fingers brushed through his hair. Why can’t I breathe? 

“_You would hurt anyone._” A hand grabbed his. Sobs wracked his body as he flailed wildly against the barrage of hands.

“Kill _anyone_.” Logan suddenly felt his hand gripped around something weighted and he looked down before crying out, dropping the object into the water. It was a knife, cold, sharp, and covered in thick, dried blood as though it had been used many times. 

Bringing his shaking hands to his chest, Logan looked down at the water. It rippled out where the knife was dropped, but they came back, crashing against each other unevenly. Following the lines, he stopped when he saw the lump. Lumps.

Bodies. 

They were everywhere, a sea of dead Romans, Virgils, and Pattons. Pure, perfect, dead, Patton. They all stared at him. They all accused him. They all told him how wrong he was.

“_Look what you did._”

Logan had collapsed again. He was shaking he was screaming. _This isn’t real. This isn’t real. It’s not real!_

_You don’t even care. _

_You’re happy they’re dead._

_Now you can always be right._

_Why are you crying? You don’t care. _

_You’re just a robot._

_You don’t give a shit about any of them._

_You’re an emotionless_

_useless _

_infinitesimal_

_freak!_

“I _know_!” He screamed back, “You’re right, you’re _right_! Just please bring them back! _Please_!

You don’t deserve them.

“I know,” he muttered, giving up, “I _know_.”

Logan surrendered to the Voices, his screams, and the hands. 


	2. Roman

Roman fell to the ground with a huff. His mind was in shambles, and with the darkness around him, he couldn’t quite tell where he was. It took him a moment to remember that he could be in danger and with difficulty he scrambled into a standing position. The air around him was frigid and made his movements slow and uncalculated, mirroring his mind. He raised his sword defensively, the handle was slick with something, but he held on as tight as he could, pushing the blade forward like a small child with a flashlight. His feet sloshed through what he thought was warm water as he spun slowly in a circle. He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see through the thick darkness. It was tangible, and it swirled with something that seeped into Roman’s mind and set a certain uneasiness there.

“Hi Princey.” The whispered voice echoed around the vast nothingness.

The uneasiness was Fear.

Roman ran. He was the embodiment of courageousness, yet he ran. This thing had hurt, no killed Virgil and that struck terror into him.

His breaths came out in hyperventilating puffs as he stumbled away. He didn’t know where he was going, but there had to be a wall somewhere. Parker had obviously transported him somewhere, maybe to the back of the mind. He just had to find the Mindscape then this would all be okay, he could figure out how to get Virgil back and get rid of-

“You’re not going to get anywhere.” The voice, that stopped him in his tracks, was taunting, and Roman tried to ignore how knowledgeable it sounded.

“You-you’re wrong.” When did he start to stutter?Roman blamed it on the cold.

“No,” Parker was laughing, cold and mean, “you won’t get anywhere because you can’t do anything right. You always try so hard but you always fail. You can’t protect anyone.”

Roman spun around again as he tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but it just surrounded him like the air. His sword hung limply in his arm now, for it had somehow grown heavier over the course of a few minutes. 

He paused as he spotted something a few feet in front of where he stood. Two orbs floated in the thick black and Roman hesitantly stepped forward. He was shaking and he cursed himself for showing how scared he was. He was brave. As he continued towards the reflective spheres, he began to see the outline of a figure.

Those were eyes.

The voice spoke again, yet it was whispered from a few inches away. “You couldn’t protect anyone from _me_.” 

A sick, white smile spread under the eyes and cut through the darkness as the figure surged forward, but Roman turned and ran as fast as he could. His limbs were heavy and it was tiring to move at all, let alone to sprint.

“You’re so weak you can’t even raise your sword.” The voice came from right behind him and Roman whipped around. His feet caught against one another, and he crashed to the ground, his sword clattering out of his hands at the same time. He lunged for it, but it began to sink into the strong smelling liquid (Roman wasn’t so sure it was water anymore) and though it was only a few inches deep, the sword was nowhere to be found.

“Give it _back_.” Roman growled out the words through chattering teeth. He would _not_ be degraded like this.

“You shouldn’t have dropped it,” the whispers scolded, “you should be strong enough to carry it, to not fall over like an imbecile. You don’t deserve it.” 

“How _dare_ you?!” He had momentarily found his voice and he wouldn’t waste the precious seconds of bravery, “I deserve more than _you_ do! I help people and Thomas instead of making them feel horrible and scaring them!”

“You don’t help people.” He said it as though it was a fact, “You only _kill_ them. You killed _him_.”

A few feet away from Roman, a disheveled broken form appeared. The body lied on the ground unmoving, unbreathing. Roman surged forward and his shaking hands hovered above him. Above Virgil.

He-he was dead. He was gone and it was his fault. His eyes stared at nothing. They stared at Roman. They accused him of a million things. _Why didn’t you help me?_ They asked _Why did you kill me?_

Roman didn’t know he was screaming until he raised his hands to his face and found his mouth open. He couldn’t stop though. He just choked out more anguished and pathetic screams.

But even they couldn’t block out the loud whispers that snaked around him. They whispered how wrong, weak, and pathetic he was.

_Look at him, look at his dead body._

_He always hated you. They all hate you._

_You’re so pathetic. Listen to you cry._

_Can’t you man up for once?_

_Thomas would be better off without you._

_You’re irresponsible and worthless. You’ll never be anything._

Roman screamed his voice hoarse back at the voices. The words cut him like knives and it hurt. They tore apart his pride. 

After sometime, he was able to look back at Virgil and he couldn’t stand how he stared back. He still looked alive. It wasn’t fair.

Reaching a hand out, he brushed his fingers over his eyelids and pulled them softly down. But what confused him was the dark, shaky lines that were left behind along his pale face. Looking at his hands he saw the thick liquid that coated them. Was the water dirty? Bringing his face closer to the sea of liquid that coated the entire ground, he allowed his eyes to adjust. All he saw was red. Suddenly the terrible smell made sense.

It was blood.

Jerking away from the ground, he screamed again. It was everywhere. It just blood. Red, thick, mean, blood. It was all over him, marring his white outfit. It was all over him. He had been sitting. Savouring it’s warmth. It was warm. It was fresh. Roman gagged and dry heaved against the smell that had suddenly became ten times stronger. It just smelled of death.

The voices laughed him as he floundered in the blood, frantically shaking and spreading it all over his face as he continued to scream.

_It’s his._

Oh god. Oh god. Roman’s head jerked to look at Virgil who was also covered in blood. Were they telling the truth? Was the blood his? Had Roman done all of this.

Sobs wracked Roman’s broken frame as he stared. Virgil stared back and he couldn’t handle it.

Wait...the eyes. Didn’t he just…?

A small puff of air escaped from Virgil’s parted lips and Roman rushed forward. A laugh escaped through his smiling lips. He was alive! Virgil was okay! 

“Virgil! Oh my _stars_, you’re okay!” He wrapped his arms around the still limp body. Everything was going to be okay now. They could figure this out together.

Virgil raised a hand and squeezed the fabric on the Prince’s back. Roman pushed himself up to look the other side in the face and he was horrified by the look of betrayal that marred it. The dry lips parted and spoke slowly and softly.

“You did this to me.”

No. Roman was about to retaliate and say that it wasn’t, that it was all Parker’s doing, but before he could, Virgil began to move.

He began to sink.

Virgil screamed, a terrified and weak sound that was rare something that Roman had only heard once before, as he was pulled down into the blood that was supposed to only be a couple of inches deep. He floundered and latched on to Roman, holding on for his life. 

Roman couldn’t hold him up though, and Virgil was dragged out of his grip. Virgil called out his name. He was so terrified and the creative side couldn’t do anything. No matter how hard he pulled, the thing under the blood was stronger.

“_Please_!” Virgil screamed for him with tears running down his face, streaking the eyeshadow down his cheeks. But Roman couldn’t do anything. He was too weak.

All that was left was a ripple.

Roman may have screamed. He may have cried again. But all he knew was that the voices wouldn’t stop. They reminded him of all the things he already knew.

In the end he just sat. There was nothing else he could do. He was useless after all. He just stared into the distance, across the sea of blood. This must’ve been his punishment. To live forever in the blood of those he let down. 

That was okay. He deserved it. He was a killer. A pathetic excuse for a side.

The voices continued and Roman listened with all he could. They were right, and he needed to know the truth. He needed to know everything he was wrong about.

\--------

Someone was coming.

Roman cocked his head towards the sound of something wading through the blood. He wondered if it was Parker. If he was finally coming to kill him.

Roman hoped so. It was awfully boring here.

The outline of a figure became visible and it seemed to start to walk faster. Roman didn’t move. It was useless. He was too weak to get away. He was too much of a failure to stand up for himself.

Virgil walked into view and Roman lunged. He collided with him and stumbled a bit, but he wrapped his arms tight around the hooded side. He knew this was probably another one of Parker’s illusions, but there was no way he was going to let this one get away.

It sounded like Virgil had said something, but Roman had missed it in his scramble to hold him. It was probably for the best he didn’t hear it anyway, it was probably just more accusations. He just hugged him tighter. He was not letting go.

“Why are you hugging me?”

The words Virgil whispered were not accusatory or condescending, they sounded genuinely confused and concerned. Could this actually be Virgil? _No_…

“I-I thought you were…” it was a struggle to get the words out, with his throat raw from screaming. He felt broken and inadequate next to the tall-standing side. He forced himself to back off and stop strangling him, though he still kept a firm hold of Virgil at arm’s length. “Earlier, there was Parker, and he attacked you and you were stabbed in the stomach, and--!” _You should be dead._

Roman felt tears slide down his face as he looked at Virgil’s shaking head, “Calm down. I’m fine. Parker was only playing mind games with you.”

_What_? Roman forced himself to take a much needed breath, albeit a shaky one. Virgil’s words broke through the whispers that still snaked their way around him. Could he be right? “So...So none of that happened?” He asked quietly, allowing a small flame of hope to ignite, “_Nothing_?”

“Nothing.” Those words allowed the the small flame to grow to a raging fire, “This isn’t real either. He’s only trying to scare you to keep you trapped here.” The words and Virgil’s tone of voice confused Roman. He talked flippantly about this place as if it was an actual location, and not some kind of illusive purgatory.

“Here? Where’s here?” _Where was he?_

Virgil’s tone dropped and he looked around angrily at the sea of blood, as if it was all so familiar. “It’s another prison.”

_Another?_

_Oh...oh no._

Guilt washed over Roman, and he had the sudden urge to tell Virgil to leave without him. To leave him here to rot. That’s what he deserved. “You mean like…?” The anxious side looked away and nodded jerkily. All of this. All of the blood and words and fear, Vrigil had to go through that for years. How he was still sane and standing, Roman didn’t know. Though, _was_ he still sane…?

“Oh my stars, Virgil, I had no idea this was what it was like…” Nobody had known what it would have been like to be trapped in a prison with Parker. He would have never thought it would be so horrible, so traumatizing. If they had known, maybe they could’ve found a way that didn’t entail mentally scarring the other sides. No wonder Virgil was still so tense around them.

“Just. It’s fine.” He sounded impatient and Roman knew he was lying, but he let it slip and wisely shut his mouth. They had more important things to do. “Look. Parker is freaking Thomas out right now. He’s messing with Thomas’s fear levels. I already found Logan, and he’s helping now, but he needs everyone there. We have to get out of place, and then you have to go help calm him down.”

I’m finally going to leave. But one word still rang through, ‘_you_ have to go help him’. 

“And you?”

Virgil’s eyes hardened once again, but this time not with pain. He was determined and oh so brave. It was a new look on the side, and Roman decided he liked how it looked, “I still need to find Patton.” 

Oh. Virgil was going to leave him to do the easy stuff as he ventured to save Patton. Roman couldn’t help but be disappointed in himself for being so weak. Even Virgil could see how useless he was How tired he was. “Alright then...lead the way out of this place. I guess.”

The pair began to walk in a seemingly random direction, and Roman kept a firm hold of his arm. It was obvious that Virgil was uncomfortable with the action, but the Prince kept hold. There was no way in heck that he was letting Virgil get away ever again. But then again, he was about to wasn’t he? Virgil was leaving to be brave and do Roman’s job. He was going to go save the day like a true hero. He had never done anything like that before, but it was a new side that Roman was proud to see. But it was also worrying.

“Virgil,” Roman whispered. He didn’t want to disturb the silence, to let the Voices know where they were. Nevertheless, Virgil still jumped in shock before letting out a questioning hum.

Roman took a deep breath before continuing, it wasn’t something he asked the anxious side often. Or at all. “Are you okay?”

Virgil stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at the Prince. Roman shrunk on the spot, instantly curling into himself. He was such a jerk that Virgil was surprised about being asked if he was okay. Something so trivial had rarely been offered to the damaged side, and Roman was going to start to change that. He was scared, however, that the other side would be angry at him for being such an asshole, so pathetic. He was scared that the voices would return. He was scared that this was all an illusion, and Virgil would be pulled below the blood and Roman would be left sitting there forever. Roman the brave was terrified.

An odd look of understanding passed over Virgil’s face as he looked the other side up and down. “Have you seen yourself? I should be asking you that question.” 

Roman frowned, he was deflecting, “I mean...You were in one of these things for a long time.” That was an understatement, “You’re already anxious as it is. Do...do you really want to have to go into another one to find Patton?”

Virgil looked away again, but Roman still saw the look of pure and unfiltered fear that had flashed over his eyes. Anxiety was scared, and he obviously did not want to go. But, shocking the Prince, the look of determination cut through the fear and made the other side continue walking. “I can’t help Thomas,” he said after a few yards, “He needs you and the others to help him right now. So I have to do this.”

Roman couldn’t help but laugh at that (it felt like forever since the last time he had laughed). Virgil didn’t know how much he was helping Thomas, how amazing he was being by saving everyone else. He didn’t know how much _better_ he was. “Well. You’re braver than me.” 

Another odd look twisted the other side’s face, but he didn’t say anything. They just continued walking until they passed some invisible threshold. All of the blood was gone from Roman’s clothes, no longer caked onto his skin. The voices ebbed away and he felt cleaner, purer. He couldn’t even remember what the blood smelled like. He felt as though a thousand tonnes had been lifted off his shoulders.

He looked over and Virgil and was immediately concerned by the pure waves of anxiety that were rolling off of him. It was time for them to part ways. It was time for them to part ways.

Virgil pulled his arm away not unkindly, “I’ll be quick in bringing Pat back,” the dark uneasiness had crawled back into his softly spoken words, “Logan should have calmed Thomas down a little bit, so you have to help cheer him up. Once everyone is gathered, we can figure out a way to stop Parker.”

He was stalling. He didn’t want to leave. Roman forced himself to stand a little straighter, to stop being such a failure and be strong for Virgil, who was obviously having a hard time mustering up the courage. “Take care, Hot Topic.” He said softly, trying to be as comforting as possible.

Virgil, stood a little taller, and Roman was certain he saw the slightest of smiles. “You too, Princey.”

Roman sunk out, and he sincerely hoped that Virgil would be okay. He also hoped that he himself could be brave enough for Thomas. Thomas needed them all.


End file.
